# 2023–24 St. Thomas Tommies men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 St. Thomas Tommies men's ice hockey season was the 100th season of play for the program, the 3rd in Division I and the 3rd in the CCHA. The Tommies represented the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), played their home games at the St. Thomas Ice Arena and were coached by Enrico Blasi in his 3rd season.

## Season

High roster turnover continued to remake the Tommies as the team was looking to fully become a Division I program. Most of the departed personnel were from their D-III era and were replaced by ones with a higher level of talent, several of whom were transfers. St. Thomas demonstrated just how much they had chanced when the team opened with a pair of 1-goal decisions against #8 St. Cloud State, splitting the home-and-home series. While they weren't quite as successful the following week against the #2 team in the nation, the fact that the team was able to push Minnesota into overtime spoke volumes. One early development for the Tommies was the introduction of a goaltending rotation that saw Aaron Trotter share responsibilities with Niagara transfer Jake Sibell. St. Thomas benefitted from the arrangement and saw the club put together a 5-game winning streak in November to climb to the top of the conference standings.
The offense, too, was looking better through the first two months of the season. While the team had been shutout three times early in the year, the winning streak saw the Tommies' production soar to new heights and make it possible for the team to possess a winning record by December. Unfortunately, the scoring became inconsistent afterwards and the Tommies stumbled to the winter break. In the final seven games of 2023, the offense scored more than 2 goals just once and lost five of those matches.
St. Thomas didn't restart its conference schedule until mid-January but the time off seemed to help the team. Upon their return, the Tommies swept Michigan Tech for the first time in school history and regained the top spot in the conference. However, after splitting the succeeding two weekend series, the team ran into another rough patch. In February the goaltending began to flag and St. Thomas won just once in their final eight games. The losses cost the Tommies their chance at a regular season title but they still managed to finish 2nd. Unfortunately, injuries played a large part in the second half of the season for the Tommies. They began to rack up in December and continued consistently the rest of the year. This forced defensemen Jase Sofo and Braidan Simmons-Fischer to play out of position at forward beginning in January. By the time the CCHA playoffs began, 8 players were injured and unable to play, and St. Thomas only had 17 healthy skaters (non-goalies) available to dress, when teams are permitted to play up to 19 for a game.
The team's reward was a meeting with Lake Superior State and their first home playoff game since joining the CCHA. However, despite their position in the standings, St. Thomas was not heavily favored in the series. Aside from the skid to end the season, the Tommies only had one more win than the Lakers in conference play and actually had a (slightly) worse overall record. The teams then demonstrated their similarity by splitting the first two games in the quarterfinals to set up a deciding third game. St. Thomas was able to use its power play to get two 1-goal leads and carried the advantage deep into the third but they could not sustain their edge. Both teams continued to fight for the next goal over the final nine minutes of the game. Just when it appeared that the match was destined for overtime, Lake Superior got on a rush and fired a strong shot on goal. Trotter made a tremendous save but the puck bound high in the air and fell at the feet of a Laker player standing in the crease. He slammed the rubber home before any of the purple defenders could stop him and gave Lake State the winning marker with under 7 seconds to play.
In spite of the heartbreaking end, St. Thomas had made great strides during the season. The Tommies had seen modest improvements on both offense and defense and, with more than have of the roster comprising underclassmen, the program has the potential to continue their ascent.
An exhibition match against USNTDP that was scheduled for January 27 was cancelled.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Henry Baribeau | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Garrett Daly | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Josh Eernisse | Forward | United States | Transferred to Michigan |
| Matt Jennings | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder) |
| Andrew Kangas | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder) |
| Luke Kron | Forward | United States | Left program |
| Trevor LeDonne | Defenseman | Canada | Transferred to Robert Morris |
| Jarrett Lee | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers) |
| Luke Perunovich | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Ethan Roberts | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to Utica |
| Nolan Sawchuk | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Blaine Warnert | Forward | United States | Transferred to Augsburg |
| Trevor Zins | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Indy Fuel) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Tobias Abrahamsson | Defenseman | Sweden | 20 | Jönköping, SWE |
| Chase Cheslock | Defenseman | United States | 19 | Rogers, MN; joined mid-season; selected 154th overall in 2023 |
| Ryder Donovan | Forward | United States | 22 | Duluth, MN; graduate transfer from Wisconsin; selected 110th overall in 2019 |
| Matthew Gleason | Forward | United States | 21 | Saint Paul, MN; transfer from Colorado College |
| Liam Malmquist | Forward | United States | 22 | Edina, MN; transfer from Wisconsin |
| James Marooney | Defenseman | United States | 24 | Chaska, MN; graduate transfer from Ohio State |
| J. D. Metz | Defenseman/Forward | United States | 20 | Mahtomedi, MN |
| Cole Miller | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Littleton, CO |
| Mason Poolman | Defenseman | United States | 21 | East Grand Forks, MN |
| Maximilian Prazma | Goaltender | Canada | 21 | Calgary, AB |
| Noah Prokop | Forward | United States | 23 | Highlands Ranch, CO; graduate transfer from Colorado College |
| Jake Ratzlaff | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Rosemount, MN |
| Jake Sibell | Goaltender | United States | 23 | Isanti, MN; transfer from Niagara |
| Jase Sofo | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Sylvania, OH |

## Roster

As of December 28, 2023.

## Standings

2023–24 Central Collegiate Hockey Association Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Bemidji State † | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 48 | 82 | 64 | 38 | 20 | 16 | 2 | 117 | 111 |
| St. Thomas | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 68 | 62 | 37 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 97 | 105 |
| #19 Michigan Tech* | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 63 | 54 | 40 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 109 | 102 |
| Minnesota State | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 73 | 62 | 37 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 111 | 96 |
| Northern Michigan | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 57 | 67 | 34 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 83 | 105 |
| Bowling Green | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 60 | 69 | 36 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 86 | 116 |
| Lake Superior State | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 79 | 73 | 38 | 17 | 20 | 1 | 114 | 113 |
| Ferris State | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 49 | 80 | 36 | 10 | 24 | 2 | 83 | 125 |
| Augustana ^ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 90 | 105 |
| Championship: March 22, 2024 † indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup) ^ Augustana is playing a transition schedule of 16 games against conference opponents that are not counted in the standings Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 7 | 6:00 pm | at #8 St. Cloud State* | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Trotter | W 5–4 $^{OT}$ | 4,863 | 1–0–0 |
| October 8 | 4:07 pm | #8 St. Cloud State* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | L 0–1 | 556 | 1–1–0 |
| October 13 | 7:30 pm | vs. #2 Minnesota* | Xcel Energy Center • Saint Paul, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | L 5–6 $^{OT}$ | 11,376 | 1–2–0 |
| October 14 | 6:00 pm | at #2 Minnesota* | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | | Sibell | L 0–3 | 9,862 | 1–3–0 |
| October 20 | 7:07 pm | Lindenwood* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | T 4–4 $^{OT}$ | 778 | 1–3–1 |
| October 21 | 7:07 pm | Lindenwood* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | W 3–1 | 668 | 2–3–1 |
| October 27 | 7:07 pm | at Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | L 2–3 | 1,686 | 2–4–1 (0–1–0) |
| October 28 | 6:07 pm | at Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | L 0–2 | 1,643 | 2–5–1 (0–2–0) |
| November 3 | 7:07 pm | Northern Michigan | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | W 4–2 | 614 | 3–5–1 (1–2–0) |
| November 4 | 6:07 pm | Northern Michigan | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | W 6–1 | 922 | 4–5–1 (2–2–0) |
| November 10 | 6:07 pm | at Bowling Green | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Trotter | W 4–1 | 2,172 | 5–5–1 (3–2–0) |
| November 11 | 6:07 pm | at Bowling Green | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Sibell | W 4–3 | 2,180 | 6–5–1 (4–2–0) |
| November 24 | 7:07 pm | Lake Superior State | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | W 4–2 | 784 | 7–5–1 (5–2–0) |
| November 25 | 6:07 pm | Lake Superior State | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | L 1–3 | 826 | 7–6–1 (5–3–0) |
| December 1 | 6:07 pm | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Trotter | L 2–5 | 1,754 | 7–7–1 (5–4–0) |
| December 2 | 5:07 pm | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Sibell | W 7–1 | 1,834 | 8–7–1 (6–4–0) |
| December 8 | 7:07 pm | at Minnesota State | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | L 1–3 | 4,557 | 8–8–1 (6–5–0) |
| December 9 | 6:07 pm | Minnesota State | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | W 2–1 | 1,010 | 9–8–1 (7–5–0) |
| December 29 | 6:00 pm | at Vermont* | Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont | ESPN+ | Trotter | L 1–5 | 2,595 | 9–9–1 |
| December 30 | 4:00 pm | at Vermont* | Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont | ESPN+ | Sibell | L 1–4 | 2,652 | 9–10–1 |
| January 6 | 4:07 pm | Minnesota Duluth* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota (Exhibition) | FloHockey | Sibell | W 3–1 | 1,058 | |
| January 11 | 7:07 pm | Michigan Tech | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | W 4–3 | 1,021 | 10–10–1 (8–5–0) |
| January 13 | 5:07 pm | Michigan Tech | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | W 3–1 | 1,059 | 11–10–1 (9–5–0) |
| January 19 | 6:07 pm | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Trotter | L 2–3 | 2,562 | 11–11–1 (9–6–0) |
| January 20 | 5:07 pm | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Sibell | W 3–1 | — | 12–11–1 (10–6–0) |
| February 2 | 7:07 pm | Minnesota State | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 1,038 | 12–12–1 (10–7–0) |
| February 3 | 6:07 pm | at Minnesota State | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | W 4–2 | 4,973 | 13–12–1 (11–7–0) |
| February 9 | 7:07 pm | at Augustana* | Midco Arena • Sioux Falls, South Dakota | FloHockey, Midco | Sibell | L 2–4 | 2,422 | 13–13–1 |
| February 10 | 6:07 pm | at Augustana* | Midco Arena • Sioux Falls, South Dakota | FloHockey, Midco | Trotter | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 2,591 | 13–14–1 |
| February 16 | 7:07 pm | Bowling Green | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | T 3–3 $^{SOL}$ | 894 | 13–14–2 (11–7–1) |
| February 17 | 6:07 pm | Bowling Green | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | L 1–3 | 796 | 13–15–2 (11–8–1) |
| February 23 | 7:07 pm | Bemidji State | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Trotter | L 5–6 | 1,014 | 13–16–2 (11–9–1) |
| February 24 | 6:07 pm | Bemidji State | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Sibell | L 1–3 | 1,008 | 13–17–2 (11–10–1) |
| March 1 | 6:07 pm | at Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey | Trotter | W 2–0 | 2,371 | 14–17–2 (12–10–1) |
| March 2 | 6:07 pm | at Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey | Sibell | L 0–6 | 2,851 | 14–18–2 (12–11–1) |
| CCHA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 8 | 7:07 pm | Lake Superior State* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Trotter | L 1–4 | 506 | 14–19–2 |
| March 9 | 6:07 pm | Lake Superior State* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Trotter | W 4–2 | 495 | 15–19–2 |
| March 10 | 5:07 pm | Lake Superior State* | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 3) | FloHockey | Trotter | L 2–3 | 437 | 15–20–2 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Lucas Wahlin | F | 37 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 48 |
| Liam Malmquist | F | 36 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 10 |
| Ryan O'Neill | F | 35 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 12 |
| Matthew Gleason | C | 37 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 26 |
| Mack Byers | LW | 31 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 4 |
| Cooper Gay | RW | 29 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 28 |
| Luc Laylin | F | 37 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 6 |
| Luke Manning | C | 37 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 14 |
| Ethan Gauer | D | 37 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 26 |
| Quinton Pepper | RW | 31 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Jake Braccini | RW | 24 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 |
| Noah Prokop | C | 27 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 |
| Mason Poolman | D | 28 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 16 |
| Cole Miller | D | 37 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 47 |
| Grant Docter | D | 22 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| James Marooney | D | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Tim Piechowski | RW | 20 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| J. D. Metz | D/F | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Chase Cheslock | D | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Carson Peters | D | 37 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
| Tobias Abrahamsson | D | 37 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Aaron Trotter | G | 24 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Ryder Donovan | C/RW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Cameron Recchi | C/LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jase Sofo | D | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Braidan Simmons-Fischer | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Jake Ratzlaff | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jake Sibell | G | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | | | 97 | 170 | 267 | 351 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Aaron Trotter | 24 | 1357:56 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 68 | 627 | 1 | .902 | 3.00 |
| Jake Sibell | 16 | 852:10 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 372 | 0 | .923 | 2.18 |
| Empty Net | - | 30:40 | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 37 | 2240:46 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 111 | 999 | 1 | .905 | 2.81 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | – | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | – | NR |
| USA Hockey | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | – | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25. Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Lucas Wahlin | CCHA Second Team | |

## 2024 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 7 | 218 | Bauer Berry $^†$ | Edmonton Oilers |
† incoming freshman